Vortex scope not quite what i thought?

jonboatjockey

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Oct 18, 2017
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I have two vortex viper HSLR's 6-24 FFP, one on a 6.5X284 and one on a 300 WM. Both were bought brand new and the one on the 6.5 has been fine, the other was broken out of the box, which took a fair amount of ammo to figure it out. Are they not all they're cracked up to be? Sent the broken one back and had it fixed, Vortex is great about that, but now I am questioning how they will hold up after a while. I don't shoot further than 600y when hunting, but use the turrets on anything over 300y (both shooting steel and hunting). Is there a better scope in that price range or i may have got a rare broken out of the box scope?
 

Tumbleweed

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Do yourself a favor and steer away from Vortex unless you get up into their high end stuff like the razor. I purged myself of everything Vortex several years ago due to ongoing failures. I now use Burris Veracity and XTRII, been extremely pleased with much better products.


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Rob5589

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I have to agree with @Tumbleweed. I was a big Vortex guy but am slowly moving away one piece at a time. They used to be quite the value but, they lose their luster after a couple of warranty trips. The old adage of everyone speaking highly of their warranty service should be a warning, is true. While my Razor gen 1 was flawless, 2 out of 3 PST's needed work. Twice for debris in one of them, the other had a bad parallax knob. My Ranger 1000 is still going strong as is a couple of other scopes, one of which is on a .17 so not too worried about that one.
I will say their CS is top notch. I sent in my Diamondback binos for a service and clean and they just sent me a brand new pair. Most likely it was financially a better decision since they were the first gen and they have left over inventory. None the less, it was a nice move on their part. Now my daughter has a brand new pair of binos instead of Dad's old stuff 😁
 
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I have 2 broken vortex scopes in the safe. Both have been there for over 2 years. Havent bothered to send them back as I know I will never use them again.
 

cmahoney

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Minden Nevada
I have 2 broken vortex scopes in the safe. Both have been there for over 2 years. Havent bothered to send them back as I know I will never use them again.

I sold mine on EBAY after I got it fixed. I included the repair order in the description and photos. It sold and I got way more than I thought I would for it.


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Tumbleweed

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I have 2 broken vortex scopes in the safe. Both have been there for over 2 years. Havent bothered to send them back as I know I will never use them again.

After the 3rd failure on my PST, I politely demanded a brand new scope. When the new one returned I immediately sold it for $75 less than I paid for it.


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Joined
Mar 27, 2017
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North Carolina
I trust the razor line, otherwise it’s not my cup of tea.

For affordable scopes I lean to swfa

the do have a great warranty and great customer service, but the light transition is meh compared to equally priced stuff and I don’t trust the quality for lesser lines. Their Japanese/USA built stuff is quality though.
 
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Glad I came across this thread because I was thinking about buying one of the mid range vortex scopes, but I think I’m more leaning towards a Leopold or saving up for a bit longer and going with the Zeiss v4. I want something that’s good for low light.
 

cmahoney

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Glad I came across this thread because I was thinking about buying one of the mid range vortex scopes, but I think I’m more leaning towards a Leopold or saving up for a bit longer and going with the Zeiss v4. I want something that’s good for low light.

Read the leupold threads first.


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mt100gr.

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Glad I came across this thread because I was thinking about buying one of the mid range vortex scopes, but I think I’m more leaning towards a Leopold or saving up for a bit longer and going with the Zeiss v4. I want something that’s good for low light.
As mentioned above, you won't have to look very hard to find leupold threads much like this vortex thread - and a handful of them. Do your research and weigh what you're looking for in a scope. Lots of tradeoffs.
 

Tumbleweed

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As mentioned above, you won't have to look very hard to find leupold threads much like this vortex thread - and a handful of them. Do your research and weigh what you're looking for in a scope. Lots of tradeoffs.

I will certainly second that! To the OP... you will be in the same boat as Vortex with any Leupold less than a Mark5. I've experienced around an 80% failure rate with Leupold VX3 up to VX6. They all have a weak erector system and will not hold up to recoil our abuse. Then you will have to deal with the folks at Leupold telling you that nothing is wrong and/or you can't shoot. Mysteriously the scopes come back showing major parts have been changed (on invoice) and they function again. Hmmm


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Do yourself a favor and steer away from Vortex unless you get up into their high end stuff like the razor. I purged myself of everything Vortex several years ago due to ongoing failures. I now use Burris Veracity and XTRII, been extremely pleased with much better products.


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X2! I sold all my vortex and went into Swarovski for my binos and then went Burris line for my rifle scopes and will never buy a piece of Vortex again. They do a great job selling you on their warranty but when you’re sending something back to them every 6 months it’s pretty disappointing. The warranty does you no good when it fails on a hunt


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I will certainly second that! To the OP... you will be in the same boat as Vortex with any Leupold less than a Mark5. I've experienced around an 80% failure rate with Leupold VX3 up to VX6. They all have a weak erector system and will not hold up to recoil our abuse. Then you will have to deal with the folks at Leupold telling you that nothing is wrong and/or you can't shoot. Mysteriously the scopes come back showing major parts have been changed (on invoice) and they function again. Hmmm


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Interesting. I’ve got a vx2 sitting in a 30-06. Mailed it from GA to AK. Gun case was cracked and the rifle had shifted significantly. Took it out and held zero. Banged it into a tree as I flipped down a hill on a snowmachine. Held zero. 8 years and I’ve yet to touch the zero. It’s been mailed 4 times with 4 moves.
Turned me into a Leupold fan for life.
 
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